Lands Commission completes inventory on 34 sites

A THREE-MONTH directive to the Lands Commission to submit an inventory on all public lands in Accra has expired with work completed on only 34 sites out of 634.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, gave the directive to the Lands Commission to provide within three months an inventory of all lands acquired by the state in the Greater Accra Region and indicating those that had been given out to individuals.
The move was to facilitate the process of returning those that were no longer needed by the state to their original owners.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Alhaji Hamidu Ibrahim Baryeh, about the success or otherwise of the minister’s request, he said it was not the sole responsibility of the Commission to take inventory of the lands.
He explained that the Commission was only a participatory agency in the process and directed this reporter to Dr Odame Larbi, the Project Director of Land Administration Project (LAP) .
Dr Larbi disclosed that work on only 34 sites had been completed, with 600 sites still outstanding, and explained that the minister’s directive of stock-taking ought to be preceded by various processes and the procuring of the services of World Bank approved consultants and getting their terms of reference but these were not factored into the ultimatum.
Alluding to the fact that three months was too short a time for the exercise, he spelt out the processes by saying that “after the approval, we advertise for expression of interest by the consultants, after which we evaluate and shortlist the consultants; then undertake data mining at the Lands Commission, Land Valuation and the Survey Department for the preparation of request for proposals”.
Dr Larbi said even before the contract with the consultants would be signed, there had to be negotiations on the whole proposal and submit the results of the negotiations and the draft contract to the World Bank for approval.
According to Dr Larbi, after all this had been done, the seven consultants were put into groups, considering the nature of the project, before the process could begin.